Great Love

 "We can do no great things; only small things with great love." 


This quote from Mother Teresa is one of my favorite all time quotes.  For one thing it is short, to the point, and easy to remember.  For another thing it speaks directly to me.  I feel like she is my mama giving me a talking to because she knows exactly what I am thinking. 


I am a big picture person.  By big picture I mean BIG picture.  I think of these great and wonderful things that I want to do one day: write a book, adopt a child, have this life altering impact on my students, work in women's ministry, get a masters in bible and trust me the list goes on and on and changes frequently along the way ; ) Each time my ideas begin to explode or I begin to feel like an overwhelmed failure because I am not accomplishing any of these great things that I dream up, I hear a gentle whisper that says, "Sweetheart, don't you know? (Can you hear him chuckle a little to himself and shake his head?) You, can do no great things; only small things with great love."  Then I, feeling a bit foolish at this point, am able to slow down and remember that it is not I but God who accomplishes any great things, and it is the small love driven things that truly make a difference in the world.  It is never about what I do, it is about how I love the way Christ loves.  This perspective gives me such great peace and joy, so why do I always forget? 


I think I forget because I am human.  I want to be great.  I have been painfully reminded of this through Beth Moore's study on Esther that I am currently doing.  We have been taking a close look at Haman's (Ironic that his name is one letter away from human) character and unfortunately I can identify.  To get the recognition and honor of the world that I crave, I must do "great" things, as a result that is what I find myself striving for. 


I am not suggesting to accomplish some things on my list of dreams would be a bad thing.  It would be a good thing to adopt a child or write a book, but only if the path that leads me there is paved with the bricks of small things that I am doing for others with GREAT love.

P.S.  I had to edit this and make the font black (I don't know why it won't do it auotmatically).  So I apologize if this shows up twice on your blog feed.